While on a walk the other day Celine and Shannon noticed painted rocks at the bottom of a tree in someone’s yard. This gave Celine the idea to paint rocks and add them to the rock garden next time we went on a walk. The children all had the opportunity to choose the rock they were going to paint.
Benji picked the green paint to put all over his rock. He then took the brush and would put it in the different paint bowls mixing different colours together.
Austin picked blue and would dab the sponge on his rock. He felt the paint on his finger and would add more paint on his rock with his finger. Austin went to the paint brush and coloured the table before getting the sponge and putting it white paint, adding it to his rock.
Jackson held the sponge in one hand as he used the paint brush in the other to paint his rock. He picked mainly green to colour his rock. Jackson switched the paint brush to hold the middle and put the end in the white paint. He then tapped it over his rock. Margo picked the yellow paint with the brush and put it on her rock. She then used the sponge in one hand and brush in the other hand and would put some on the rock and some on the table. Margo used the end of the paint brush to paint as well. She also figured out she could squish the sponge and the paint would come out in her hand. Then she’d place her painted hand on her rock. Margo picked up her rock and dropped it on the table which made a loud sound. Margo said, “oh,” as she continued to pick up and drop her rock.
Ava put her hands right into the paint. She felt the paint on her hands before taking them out and putting them on the rock.
Penny used the paint brush to paint her rock.
As the children painted, Celine would label the colours they were using or making as they mixed the paint together. Now our rocks are ready to take with us on our walk with a letter to the family about our additions to their rock garden.
Later in the month, we went on a walk back down to the tree to deliver the rocks. Celine knocked on the door and the owner was thankful for the rocks we were adding. Each child had their turn to get out of the stroller and add the rock to the bottom of the tree. I wonder what other creative experiences we can do? I wonder what other activities we can do within the community?
A few days later we received a lovely letter from the owners. They were so grateful for our addition to their tree. This even inspired her to paint more.
During this experience the children practised using their fine motor skills to hold the painting utensils. Their colour recognition was also fostered as they heard the colours they were using. This also allowed the children to use their sense of creativity. The children used their gross motor skills to crawl or walk to the tree.
